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OCEAN FREIGHT MARKET
Rate volatility, lean volumes & vessel oversupply

The continuing turbulence in the ocean freight market in the 2009 – is marked by freight rate volatility, dwindling cargo volumes and vessel fleet overcapacity is raising ever greater concerns about how long the current crisis is likely to last and what consequences would it leave behind impacting the future of the shipping market. The shipping market differentiated by types of freight, a range of traded commodities and ship types is also increasingly impacted by weaker commodity prices, especially in crude oil, coal and iron ore, with major suppliers/shippers shying away from market, amidst uncertainties of financial and banking crisis and volatile currencies.

While the crisis defies any imminent resolution, there are nonetheless many scattered expectations of what would happen to the market – reactions ranging from being simply stupefied to the point of asserting that market would be significantly altered by the current crisis. It would, be interesting map out possible break-through to this impasse and see which way it could impact future evolution. For sake of argument, let us consider two diametrically opposed views on the likely course of market events, though we might actually end up somewhere mid-way between these two alternative scenarios.

Firstly, we will consider the argument that shipping market is currently undergoing only a predictable cyclical crisis, engineered by impending line-up of new shipping tonnage; coupled with grim reality of shrinking cargo demand due to the larger economic and financial crisis. Being a typical cyclical crisis – there would be a definitive period of uncertainty in the market but it would eventually get back to normal once again. Such a view is premised in the simple logic that “what goes up has to come down” and “what has gone down has to go up”; - indeed, it simply reiterates that most markets are prone to regular ups and downs as an inherent systemic tendency and there are no reasons for worry. Despite the simplicity of this operative wisdom, it is not without some merits.

The shipping market cycles of boom and bust have a long and chequered history and have time and again confirmed that the tectonic sub-structures of supply and demand that lie beneath larger macro economic superstructures, do exist and often act independently and unwittingly become the defining elements in a crisis. At times, these can cause devastating volcanic eruptions, along the economic fault-lines. Typically, as the new shipping tonnage squares up against the scrapping of the old shipping tonnage (which goes into demolitions) and as supply and demand for shipping tonnage gets somewhat balanced, the shipping freight markets begin to emerge from the depression and resume their growth trajectory. Conventional shipping economics has after all always held that the imbalances shipping tonnage demand and supply provide the basic fulcrum for shipping market dynamics. While there can be no denying of their role in triggering the market crisis, restricting analysis at this level is however bound to be somewhat wishful in consequences.

This viewpoint further refuses to take a dynamic view of the inter-connections that exist between various elements of the market value chain and how they in turn determine and impact the overall structural evolution and working of the shipping market and industry. For instance, one of the key issue that had emerged at the time of the last shipping boom was the extent to which the port berthing infrastructure in the existing ports across the world had come to be strained - be it the US, Europe or Australia. Congestion in Australian ports, especially the port of New Castle during 2007 had reached a critical stage with several dozens of Cape vessels lined up in the harbour with no berths. Port congestion had idled the available shipping capacity and had triggered freight prices to go up. Part of the blame for port congestion was also laid on inadequacies of the freight rail infrastructure that was responsible for delayed movement of coal and iron ore to the load ports. At the peak of shipping market, it was quiet amply clear that the existing seaport infrastructure facilities in the developed world including in the US, Australia and parts of Europe were far from adequate and had in fact triggered serious tonnage supply constraints and sudden blips on the freight charts.

The dynamic consequences of shipping tonnage in supply and the demand for shipping tonnage, is thus expressed in a number of complicated ways - as the overall market and industry structure gets highly differentiated and specialized in its functions. For instance, the shipping demand is virtually funneled into various silos in terms of trade routes (Transpacific, Atlantic. East West, Intra-Asian etc) , ship sizes (Cape, Panamax, Supramax, Handysize etc) and commodity types (Liquid bulk, Dry bulk, Container, general cargo etc) to be moved across ports. Yet certain common factors like bunker fuel prices, off-shore manpower costs and availability, ship-building yards and dry docking capacity, port channel access etc. equally impact the all the segments of shipping market. The making of a crisis in the shipping market would thus, be always an tenuous outcome of several distinct and common trigger factors acting in concert.

Shipping demand (for transportation commodities like crude oil, coal, iron ore etc) being essentially a derived one, is also largely determined by concurrent trade cycles that depress or boost the volume of cargo to be carried. The last shipping boom was largely supported by rising global demand for cargo (especially China's huge demand for iron ore and its own coal exports) which created shipping tonnage shortages and high freight rates, which actually resulted in a massive ship building boom. The ship building boom has since flattened out and many ship-owners are now eager to either sell their ships or prolong taking deliveries of new vessels. At the current levels of cargo availability - we have a situation where more ships are chasing fewer available cargoes than other way round. South-bound freight prices have brought the situation to a stage, where owners are now hard-put to recover their vessel operating costs. Besides the depressed cargo volumes, drastic fall in the primary commodity prices, following the earlier phase of unrealistic rise in commodity prices has also severely affected the volumes. The plausibility of global trade and shipping markets simply bouncing back into a state normalcy in the near future thus not only seem to be difficult but also less probable.

That brings up the second view on the current crisis that says that the shipping markets on the contrary must be seen as constantly evolving entity with its own set of new ground-rules. The ongoing financial and economic crisis in the developed markets have already made it evident that the process of recovery will be long drawn while hopes are still placed in emerging economies to relatively emerge from crisis in the near term somewhat unscathed.. Past couple of months has already thrown up some indications of change in the global trade pattern, and which in turn will not be without corresponding consequences for shipping.

For sure, there is going to be a steady shift away from long-haul shipping to short-haul or intra-regional shipping, with logistics costs becoming a key criterion in future raw-material supply contracts. A number of other significant and concurrent shifts are also underway, such as greater accent on the local and regional as in relation to global geographic relationships, greater stress on micro or segmental level of problem solving as in contrast to macro-level strategies and global solutions. The “first mile” and the “last mile” of logistics pipeline, which have always generally suffered from a lack of clear emphasis will now become a new subject of attention and trouble shooting. The economies of large scale parcel size movement may thus shift gears in favour of smaller size parcel movements and so forth. The new logistics imperatives as the true growth drivers unlocking the hidden and implicit value chains will thus begin drive the economic recovery process and this process is likely to find its expression in new way transportation and logistics markets.

It would be however be still mistaken to think that suggested trends would in any way reverse the existing levels of global trade and exchange and unwind the long-distance logistical integration that has already come about in the world. Rather, to the contrary, new logistics imperatives would only focus on stabilizing and strengthening the foundations for the current level of global integration and to make it stand firmer. Trends at large in the global economy marked by multi-polarity in trade flows, distributed manufacturing, diversified commodity flows in the wake of trade liberalization. If the evolution of transportation market has since long focused on having ever larger transportation fleet, vessel and parcel sizes, higher freight rates, etc; its now time to tweak these assumptions with a sense of new logistics imperatives. A crisis is often a hidden opportunity for overcoming redundancies and scaling new heights and winning new battles. The crisis in the shipping market is surely pregnant with these new possibilities and challenges.

New bid dates for inland water transport system

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to extend the bid submission dates for the Inland Passenger Water Transport (IPWT) after it received requests to that effect from interested parties. According to MSRDC officials, the last date for submission of bid documents was March 20, but the time limit has now been extended by a month. One of the reasons cited by the officials was the economic downturn. “More importantly, our country does not have an inland water transport system as in other foreign countries, and the bidders want more time to tie up with foreign collaborators,” an MRSDC engineer said. The corporation has already extended the bid submission dates for Worli-Haji sea link, Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL). The MMRDA has also extended the dates for the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro corridor. The MSRDC had invited bids for two IPWT projects. Under one project, six places along the western coast — Borivali, Marve, Versova, Juhu, Bandra and Nariman Point — were identified where terminals could be constructed while the second project will connect Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. “But this time, some 20 parties are bidding for these two projects,” the engineer said. This seems to be of some respite to the MSRDC as the project has been facing hurdles ever since its inception. The MSRDC had floated tenders (for the second time, after a cancelled bidding process earlier) for this project in October 2008, but it did not find any takers. It was in the 1990s that the government conceived the project and the MSRDC was appointed the nodal agency. After a series of delays, the contract to build and run the system for a 30-year concession period was awarded to Satyagiri Shipping Ltd in December 2004, only to be cancelled earlier this year after the government objected to repeated changes in the winning bidder’s consortium partners

RAILWAYS

Concor to invest surplus in rolling stock, steel hubs

Aiming at consolidating its foothold in the logistics sector, Container Corporation of India (Concor) would invest about Rs 4,000 crore in the next five years for acquisition of rolling stock, creation of asset and setting up of steel hubs, hitherto non-existent in the country. A bulk of the investment would go towards development of logistics sector, said N L Manjoka, group general manager, planning and development, Concor."We have surplus with us and have earmarked Rs 4,000 crore as capital expenditure for the next five years for acquisition of rolling stocks -- high speed wagons -- and setting up of container terminals," Manjoka said, adding that Concor will run double decker containers wherever there is a demand.” A major share would go to the logistics park that is the requirement of the day," he told reporters on the sidelines of India Infrastructure Summit. He said Concor is planning to set up steel hubs, which are unavailable till now in the country. These hubs are expected to come up in places like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Punjab where the demand for steel is high. Steels of required size would be available in these hubs for the benefit of both the big and small customers, he said.

Railways find no takers for Madhepura loco venture

Indian Railways has found no takers for its electric loco unit at Madhepura, which the Railways proposed to set up as a joint venture. Out of the three qualified bidders — Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens — not a single player has submitted any firm offer. The winning bidder was supposed to set up a JV with the Railways in 74:26 ownership pattern. The JV was supposed to have procurement-cum-maintenance contract with the Railways. Indian Railways was to procure 800 locomotives of 12,000 horse power over a 10-year period. “The bidders wanted more time, more clarifications on some clauses,” said a source. The project bid also required the company to set up a township comprising housing units, school and hospital around the factory. Given Railway Minister, Mr. Lalu Prasad’s keenness to put up the factory soon, Railways may now try to put up the electric loco factory as a departmental production unit like the Diesel Locomotive Works and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works. The departmental production units are entirely owned and operated by the Indian Railways. For this, however, the Ministry requires a Cabinet approval. Incidentally, Railways had adopted this route for its wheel plant at Chhapra. The Chhapra wheel plant, which the Railways had initially planned to set up as a joint venture unit, was converted to a departmental production unit in the absence of any offers that Railways perceived as attractive. GE offer ‘reasonable’ GE, meanwhile, has emerged as the sole bidder for the proposed diesel locomotive factory to be set up in partnership with Indian Railways. GE and EMD had been short-listed for the diesel loco unit at Marhowra. According to the government guidelines, in a global tender, if there is a single financial bid, the bid can be awarded if found attractive. “The offer appears reasonable when compared to the loco price at DLW, Varanasi,” said a Ministry official. The factory will be set up as a JV between Ministry of Railways with equity of 26 per cent and an international company. It will have a procurement-cum-maintenance contract with the Railways. To be set up at an estimated price of about Rs 1,000 crore, the JV will have to live up to some specifications. It would have to make available locomotives for traffic use for 95 per cent of the specified time and the energy efficiency of locomotives will have to be 5-10 per cent higher over the existing fleet. Railways will procure 1,000 diesel locomotives of 4500/6000 HP over a 10-year period. The locomotives will also be maintained by the JV over the subsequent 25-26 years. It would also have to provide housing units, hospitals and schools of a certain basic specified parameter to the workers at the factory.

Nomad Digital forms JV with Zylog Systems for wireless internet on rail network

British Wi-Fi technology major Nomad Digital has entered into a joint venture with Indian company Zylog Systems to provide wireless internet access to India’s massive railway network. Newcastle-based Nomad Digital is a market leader in the provision of mobile wireless services for transportation, while Zylog supplies a range of IT products and solutions to its customers across multiple sectors such as banking, insurance and telecom.” We have identified India as a market that has huge potential for us. India’s rail network is one of the fastest growing in the world and will help us to continue to add more jobs over the course of the year,” Nomad chief executive Graeme Lowdon said.” We are now looking at ways to roll out our other services in the country, including on-board entertainment services and VoIP.”The firm recently raised 6 million pounds to fund growth and further investment into its technology, including the world’s longest broadband corridor on the 600km London to Glasgow route. The company was the first to install a rail broadband system on the Brighton Express in 2005.

Vizag airport new terminal to be opened

The Visakhapatnam airport is at last ready for international flights and flights round the clock.The Rs 100-crore terminal is to be inaugurated. According to Mr C. Pattabhi, Director of Visakhapatnam airport, the new terminal located on 20,000 m area, will be an integrated one for both domestic and international flights and the passenger capacity will be 700 (400 domestic and 300 international) against the present 150. A hi-tech flight despatch system, escalators, elevators and a car park will be the features of the terminal. The major portion of the new terminal has been constructed with glass and steel to make it more eco-friendly, he said. At present, five airlines – Air India, Jet Lite, Paramount, Kingfisher, and Spice Jet – operate flights from Vizag. According to Mr. Pattabhi, Silk Air and Sri Lankan Airways have made preliminary enquiries for operating flights from here. “The stage is set for operating international flights from Vizag with the inauguration of the terminal on Saturday. It will push the airport into the big league and make for the speedier development of the city,” he said. At present, passengers from five coastal districts take international flights at Hyderabad and it will be much easier for them if the flights are operated from Vizag.

IDBI Bank to syndicate $ 1-billion loan for Air India

IDBI Bank has said it is syndicating a USD one billion loan for national carrier Air India, that will help the airline to acquire 12 of 43 aircraft it plans to buy mainly for domestic operations. "We are syndicating the USD 1-billion loan for Air India. The process is already started. The loan will be arranged in the shortest possible time," IDBI Bank Deputy Managing Director Jitender Balakrishnan told reporters. Air India said it is yet to firm up the deal, which is expected to materialize soon. The airline intends to use the loan amount to purchase 12 out of the 43 aircraft it plans to acquire, including A-319, A-320 and A-321. IDBI Bank is acting as the lead arranger for the fund raising programme. Above ten banks are understood to be part of the consortium, the size of which is likely to be expanded, with more lenders coming forward to participate in the deal, Balakrishnan said. It is understood that the loan amount will be equally divided among the lenders in the consortium with a view to reduce the financial burden on individual banks. IDBI Bank had recently extended Rs 300-crore loan to the beleaguered Satyam Computer, helping the IT-firm's newly appointed board to fulfill its near-term requirements

Aviation sector to see more M&A activity, consolidation: CAPA

The domestic civil aviation industry will see some more consolidation through mergers and acquisitions in the coming fiscal and will also have less than Rs 8,000-crore combined loss projected for all the airlines in the current fiscal, according to CAPA. "There will be consolidation in the coming fiscal and there will be less than four-five low-cost carriers. However, the industry will definitely have lower losses than Rs 8,000 crore expected in the current year," Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)'s Indian Subcontinent CEO Kapil Kaul told PTI on the sidelines of an infrastructure summit organised. But the overall scenario for the no-frills carriers was turning favourable and some of them would break even in the coming fiscal, he added. "I think some budget airlines will break even in the next fiscal. The overall air traffic will start seeing an upward trend by October 2009," he said. After a continuous run in air traffic growth in the country for some years, there had been dip of 10 per cent in passenger numbers in the current fiscal, he said. The combined loss of Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher, GoAir and SpiceJet for 2007-2008 was Rs 3,195.27 crore, according to official dat

Shipping industry seeks anti-dumping measures

The domestic shipping industry, which is under pressure from drop in volumes due to the global economic slowdown, has urged the central government to safeguard the industry against the growing threat of multinationals through measures similar to the anti-dumping duty implemented in the domestic manufacturing sector. India is the second fastest growing economy in the World and our domestic and international trade volumes are growing at a rapid pace. Multinational shipping companies are tapping this growing domestic market. Favourable government policies boosted the domestic shipping in the post-independence period. The share of domestic shipping companies in the country's exim trade increased to over 40 per cent during the 1980s, S Hajara, CMD, The Shipping Corporation of India said. "However, since then because of detrimental policies, our share has dropped to less than 12 per cent. Local companies need to be protected," he added. He also noted that while infrastructure status has been granted to the ship building industry and ports, the shipping industry has been kept deprived of the same and the old theory that anything movable cannot be given infrastructure status, continues. Yudhishthir D Khatau vice-chairman of Varun Shipping, noted that protective policies were strongly practiced in other countries, and Indian shipping should also be protected “On the shores, there are provisions like duty exemptions and anti-dumping duty to protect local industries. The argument is that anti-dumping duty was not applicable for services sector, and hence shipping will not be covered under that,” he added. He also said the shipping industry should get the level playing field in terms of taxation and funding, mainly in case of asset financing. Khatau said when the economy was booming, the banks were not ready to provide financing for purchase of vessels saying that assets were costly. Now the prices have come down and still they are not ready to lend because of the slowdown. He noted that the industry needs huge investments in phases to replace single bulk carriers and dry bulk carriers, which are 18 years old.

38 port projects completed so far - IPA

According to data compiled by the Indian Ports Association, out of the 276 port projects planned under the National Maritime Development Program, 38 projects have been completed. The project was launched in August 2005. The 38 projects have added 54.60 million tonne of additional capacity to 6 major ports. However, the India government backed port developmental projects have been able to attract players from the private sector. Private developers have contributed INR 2,942.52 crore out of the total estimated cost of INR 3,989.15 crore for the 38 projects. While work is in progress on 65 projects costing INR 12,017.06 crore, 31 projects have been approved but not yet awarded to developers, 26 projects have been firmed up and are awaiting approval. Another 93 projects are under the planning stage. All these projects are expected to be completed within 5 to 7 years, while 23 projects have been held back. According to the status report of the IPA, the steady progress of almost all projects under various stages of implementation indicates that the port sector program are moving ahead despite the current economic downturn. Actually, 74% of the cost of the completed projects has been borne by the private players. Of the completed projects, Kandla Port tops the list with the completion of as many as 9 projects involving an estimated cost of INR 1,408.55 crore. 3 cargo berths and a state of the art container terminal with back up areas have been completed. It has been proposed to set up a marine terminal at Vadinar and upgrade its marine, rail and road infrastructure. However, Jawaharlal Nehru Port has completed four projects entailing an estimated INR 1,127.30 crore. The projects include redevelopment of bulk terminal into box terminal, development of yard and procurement of rail mounted gantry cranes and trailers. Beside, Paradip Port has completed seven projects costing INR 113.08 crore. The Haldia Dock Complex has completed 5 projects, Tuticorin Port finished 4, Visakhapatnam Port with 3 projects and Cochin Port completing 2 projects at an estimated cost of INR 767.58 crore. Mumbai, Kolkata, New Mangalore and Mormugao Ports completed one project each at estimated costs of INR 24.98 crore, INR 14.50 crore, INR 45.40 crore and INR 33.20 crore, respectively. For the current fiscal, the Shipping Ministry has targeted nine projects for execution out of the 26 that have been firmed up while waiting for approval. A port consultant said that the cumbersome procedures for public private partnership mode projects were delaying quicker project implementation.

Ports find scanning all of container cargo difficult

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust at Nhava Sheva scans just 10 per cent of its containers. And Mumbai Port Trust, one of the oldest in the country, has no scanner at all - checks are done manually. Admitting the threat was real and current security measures inadequate, port authorities said they planned to plug the gaps. The JNPT has 18 CCTV cameras and the MbPT 33, but the Intelligence Bureau asked them to increase the number. It also told the MbPT to reduce exits, a warning it heeded by shutting down the Green Gate after 26/11. MbPT chairperson Rahul Asthana said, "The Mumbai Port has no scanner and checking is done manually. We get just about one lakh containers annually vis-a-vis almost 40 lakh containers in JNPT. But we are looking at having a scanner soon.'' The MbPT will be able to handle 10 lakh containers once an offshore terminal is commissioned. But Asthana said 100 per cent scanning will not be possible as it would create a bottleneck. He added containers entering the US were scanned in their country of origin and the same norms must be adopted here. JNPT chairperson S S Hussain however said 100 per cent scanning could be possible in three years. The JNPT has CISF cover for 19 years and also a dog squad to detect bombs. Hussain said only 10 per cent of the containers are scanned by customs, which owns the two scanners at the port. JNPT itself is in the process of acquiring one from its funds. It has a speedboat and plans to buy another soon. Besides, it plans a commando force of 80 men. JNPT caters to 60 per cent of the country's cargo, but officials said they had not given much importance to cargo scanning, but "it will be our priority after the naval chief's alert''.

Indian Navy chief calls for cargo-scanning measures

India must adopt heightened cargo-scanning measures in order to completely secure the country against the threat of sea-based nuclear smuggling, the head of the Indian navy warned yesterday (see GSN, June 26, 2007)."Nuclear weapons may be smuggled into India in a cargo container," said Adm. Suresh Mehta. "Today, 70 to 75 percent of global cargo is containerized. It is acknowledged that the container is the most likely means for terrorist organizations to illegally transport a nuclear weapon and, hence, there is a serious concern about container security." Perpetrators of the November terror strikes in Mumbai were believed to have entered India by sea, demonstrating that terrorists could exploit the nation's coastlines, Mehta added.

Eredene eyes Indian port projects

UK-based investment firm Eredene Capital Plc is raising its second infrastructure fund with a total corpus of $400 million to invest in Indian projects that are perceived as low-risk. “Our target is to raise $400 million for the second fund, which will focus on investing in ports, container freight stations, warehousing, distribution and some real estate businesses in India. However, port segment will be our key investment area,” said Nikhil Naik, chairman, Eredene Infrastructure. The company has been conducting international road shows in various cities to attract investors for the second fund and hopes to raise the full corpus by the second half of current fiscal. “While there is no need to explain India growth story, the global economic climate is slightly delaying our fund raising process,” he said adding, “two of our investors in the first fund have also agreed to contribute to our second fund.” Eredene has been engaged in discussion with several companies in India for making investments from its second and has pipeline investments worth $300 million for the second fund to invest in. While low risk and stability in returns are key for making investments in infrastructure projects, Indian projects are perceived as low-risk due to very high demand, said Naik. Naik said that Eredene would contribute much more than the equity investments to the growth of the company it invests in. Its investment strategy is to make equity investments in logistics and port projects, add value and exit after five-10 years. “The total cargo handling capacity of Indian ports is forecast to go to over 1,000 million tonnes by 2012 from the present 740 mt. It is good time to invest in port projects that are ready to go for construction,” said Ameeta Chatterjee, director-corporate finance, KPMG. About 50 per cent of infrastructure deals that happened in India in 2008 had PE investments, she added.

WAREHOUSING/ DISTRIBUTION

Indo-Italian venture to tap auto logistics market

Pallia Transport has formed a JV with Italian logistics firm Gruppo Mercurio SPA. The JV Mercurio Pallia Logistics will provide logistics services to automotive companies. It will procure about 100 trailers over the next 1 year and has already placed orders for 20 trailers with TATA Motors. Mr. Vipul Nanda MD of Mercurio Pallia said “GM SPA, EUR 130 million company, will bring in its expertise in stockyard management, pre-delivery inspection and other value additions.” It aims to offer auto makers end-to-end logistics services between India and Europe. Mr. Nanda said “The Indian automotive logistics players usually offer services between factories and dealers. The JV will provide value added services to the Indian auto logistics market, which is roughly INR 2,000 crore annually. We will increase our existing business in car transportation with automobile companies including Maruti, Mahindra and Mahindra, TATA Motors, Hyundai, General Motors and Honda. We are doing a feasibility study for car transportation in rail wagons.”

Future Group plans to supply to kirana stores later this year

Kishore Biyani’s Future Group plans to start selling its private labels, including in apparels, food and groceries, to kirana stores in rural and semi-urban areas in the second half of this year, according to a top company executive. At present, the group’s private labels comprise 10-35 per cent of store sales. The move will increase the presence of its labels and garner more business for the group. The group was also expected to start its wholesale distribution business from the next quarter, said a source. Future Logistics, the group’s logistics arm, was expected to start operations by January 2009. But economic slowdown delayed the launch, sources said. The company would distribute products in food, apparel, luggage, grocery and other categories to organised retail chains in the country and expected a business of Rs 1,000 crore in the next three years, sources added. The group is also in talks with a couple of international brands to distribute their products. As for expanding private labels to mom-and-pop stores, these are expected to be reached through the group’s low-cost stores such as KB’s Fair Price and Aadhaar, the rural retail chain. “Currently, our store brands are in the top three slots in the categories we operate in. We have tested the wholesale distribution channel in our stores such as KB’s Fair Price and Aadhar. We will take this initiative outside the Future group in 2009,” said Damodar Mall, group customer director, on the sidelines of Food Forum India. The Future Group runs more than 150 KB’s Fair Price stores, a chain of no-frills stores, in cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Ahmedabad and plans to open 1,500 more in the next 18 months. It plans to grow its rural retail venture, Aadhaar, in 800 towns and villages in the country in the next couple of years, from around 60 towns at present. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail is also planning to sell its private labels to mom-and-pop stores. Initially, the group would sell private labels in apparels and later those in food and grocery items, Mall said. Late last year, the group has announced a plan to become a Rs 10,000 crore consumer products major in the next four years by launching new brands in the fast moving consumer goods sector, consumer durables, electronics and apparel, in anticipation of down-trading as economic growth slows and also to take advantage of a slump in commodity prices.

Allcargo enters into agreement with Hind Terminals

Allcargo Global Logistics has entered into an agreement with Hind Terminals for setting up of container freight stations at several cities across the country. "The company has entered into a long term strategic alliance agreement with Hind Terminals for setting up, commissioning, operating, managing and commercially running container freight stations and inland container depots," Allcargo said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Under the agreement, freight stations would be set-up at Indore, Hyderabad, Nagpur and Bangalore.” The projects shall be managed and operated by independent joint venture companies to be formed for the purpose," Allcargo further said. "The proposed venture would help both the companies in catering to the needs of India’s external and internal trade with cost effective and efficient solutions, "it added. Allcargo is a leading integrated multi-modal transport operator, offering end-to-end logistics solutions across the world, whereas Hind Terminals is a part of Sharaf Group, Dubai with interests in business of shipping, logistics and collateral management.

As supply chain industry reels, India delivers for DHL

The financial meltdown has hurt the global supply chain industry, especially in the auto and technology sectors. But DHL, the world's largest supply chain player, says India has bucked the trend in these two sectors. The global slowdown has picked another victim — the supply chain industry. As the auto and technology space reel, so have aspects of the supply chain business related to these sectors. DHL, the world leader in the industry, says business related to these sectors has fallen by 35-40% especially in Western Europe, USA and Canada. And even though more and more companies are outsourcing their logistics operations, margin pressure is high, as is pressure from clients to reduce rates. Says Bruce Edwards, Global CEO - Supply Chain, DHL, “We are seeing some price pressure. Not sure if there is any time when there is no price pressure. But, it is a bit stronger right now. One thing that we've been able to do is work that back into a broader opportunity with customers.” DHL is happy with its operations in India. Volumes in the warehousing and distribution of auto spare parts has risen 4-5% from year-ago levels. But that's mainly because of new customers. Edwards says, “I think, if you are just talking about India, some of our volume growth is because we've got new customers. And we are growing our business with new firms. The volumes with our existing customers are pretty flat.” DHL reads this addition of clients as a sign that there is a lot of headroom for growth in the region. It says India has managed to escape serious injury from the global turmoil. And that's adding to the country's attractiveness as a growth opportunity.

DHL into clothing

DHL Global Forwarding has launched a “DHL Fashion and Apparel Centre for Excellence” in India to facilitate trade in clothing within the region and to Europe and North America. The Centre will develop bespoke products and solutions that cover the entire logistics value chain - from materials purchasing to sampling, to quality control of production and delivery to boutiques. The fashion and apparel logistics industry is estimated to be worth US$3.9 billion per annum in South Asia. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka alone are estimated to account for well over US$2.4 billion in the fast-growing industry.

Wallenius Wilhelmsen opens Chennai unit

Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics, the car carrier and roll-on, roll-off operator, has opened a subsidiary in Chennai to support the emerging India market. Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (India) Pvt. Ltd. “will enable WWL to be more active in responding to original equipment manufacturer’s requests for developing logistics solutions,” WWL said in statement. The company said it wants to establish a long-term presence in India that will focus on ocean transport, terminal services, technical services, inland distribution and supply chain management. WWL also said it is exploring opportunities in India in auto and ro-ro terminal development, terminal management, yard management and pre-delivery inspection activities at car plants, inland distribution of finished vehicles and the “establishment of a dedicated ocean product. ”The company operates more than 60 car carriers and ro-ro vessels and moves about 4.3 million vehicles annually.

iGATE expands operations in Hyderabad

iGATE, the integrated technology and operations company has expanded its global delivery facility in the Hyderabad city. iGATE also announced scaling its existing ERP Centre of Excellence in its Hyderabad facility to cover manufacturing and logistics and Banking verticals. “We continue to create vertical solutions and align with our customers business. We are excited about expanding our Hyderabad footprint to include Manufacturing and Logistics and Banking verticals building on our success in ERP. Our Hyderabad center will continue to offer service innovation and excellence to many top clients,'' Mr. Sean Narayanan, Chief Delivery Officer, iGATE said in a release. Besides Hyderabad, iGATE has global delivery facilities in Bangalore, Chennai, and Noida in India, Ballarat in Australia, Cyberjaya in Malaysia and Guadalajara in Mexico. iGATE Corporation registered revenues of $218.8 million in 2008 and ended the year with over 6,600 employees, Mr. Narayanan said.

AXS-Alphaliner: “China's excess terminal capacity a cautionary tale for US”

While port authorities in the U.S. are lauding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for its funding of ocean cargo gateways, there’s some apprehension in China that it may have been building too much too fast. “The global rankings (of container ports) could finally change in 2009 if current volume trends continue, albeit on an overall declining total,” stated analysts for AXS-Alphaliner in a recent report. According to “China Container Ports Review 2009,” the excess supply of terminal capacity in China’s container ports is estimated to reach 35 million TEU (twenty-equivalent units) by 2010. Of the top 12 container ports, the potential over-capacity is expected to be most severe in Xiamen and Dalian where total capacity in 2010 is 114 percent and 100 percent respectively of the demand in 2008.“Both the Bohai Rim and the Pearl River Delta/Southeast coastal region could see a significant overcapacity challenge in 2010 as the excess capacity projected is three times more than the actual growth seen in the 2000-2008 period,” said analysts. “With growth slowing considerably for 2009, it is unlikely that demand would grow sufficiently to absorb the excess capacity within the next two years.”Meanwhile, Shanghai is expected to overtake Singapore and Shenzhen to overtake Hong Kong to become the No.1 and No.3 largest container ports this year. “We have been forecasting the dominance of Shanghai for some time,” said Jon Monroe, president of Monroe Consulting. “With its advanced network of inland connections, it is going to remain the nation’s leading port.”The AXS-Alphaliner report also analyses the impact it would have on the main port operators in China. The Top 10 operators control about 58 percent of the total throughput in the country. The four largest operators—Hutchison Port Holdings, Shanghai International Port Group, China Merchants Holdings International, and COSCO Pacific—have significant exposure to the falling demand across all regions. The reduced volumes and tariff erosion would have an adverse impact on the operators, with many terminals facing the prospect of negative growth. Despite the negative assessment, port expansion projects continue across the country. The report examines the existing and future capacity at all the major container ports in China. Except for Hong Kong, where the CT10 terminal project has been postponed, all the major ports in China have expansion plans in place.

Suning Appliance Co Ltd unveils a large-scale logistics center in Chengdu

Suning Appliance Co Ltd, one of the largest privately-owned electrical appliance retailers in China, has recently unveiled its large-scale logistics center project in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, the Shanghai Securities News has reported. With a total investment of RMB 500 million, the Chengdu logistics center covers an area of 130 Mu and is expected to be completed within two years, said Suning, adding that the Chengdu logistics center will adopt several advanced technologies to raise efficiency. The consumer-electronics retailer said that, with the launch of Chengdu logistics center, it will speed up the expansion in Sichuan Province this year and it plans to open 10 new outlets in cities of Mei Shan, Le Shan and Zi Yang, etc. The total number of Suning's outlets in the province will exceed 36, with annual sales hitting more than RMB 3 billion. In addition, the logistics center, which will be located in Longquanyi District of Chengdu, is expected to become one of the leading household electrical appliances distribution centers in Southwest China, said Suning. Suning last December said it plans to maintain its pace of expansion in 2009, to open more than 200 outlets in 70 new cities and to set up five large-scale logistics center in Beijing, Shenyang, Chengdu, Xuzhou and Nanjing.

China to boost shipping industry through domestic demand

According to Mr Zhang Guang-qin president of China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry China is going to perk up its shipping industry via speeding up the metabolism of old watercrafts and single hull oil tankers and encouraging the development of far-sea fishing works, special ships and working ships. The State Council recently passed a perking program for the national shipping industry. Mr Zhang considers this program will spur the replacing and washing out process of old ships and will surely push up the domestic demand for watercrafts. Currently, new ship price goes at a low track since the cost of raw materials for shipbuilding dives. China shipping industry belongs to the typical export oriented economy. The exported ship quantity takes 73% of the total completion quantity in 2008. But this nice score may not continue in 2009 since the world sea transport capability may prick up its overflow in 2009 given the swelling new carrying capacities vs. the slow growth of global sea transport quantity. Global ship market will be in downward correction this year. Hence, China needs to enlarge its domestic demand for watercrafts. Data show that China is the No.1 iron ore importing country, the second large trading country as well as the third large oil importing country in the world. However, most of its import and export transport leans on foreign ships. The rapid development of the country's offshore oil drilling and other industries calls for strong transport capability to carry the massive imported equipments and various ships that in urgent needs.

Two U.S. major ports impose fee on cargo containers

Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have begun to impose a 35-dollar fee on cargo containers entering or leaving the ports in a bid to help subsidize the replacement of thousands of polluting trucks. The fee is expected to raise about 1 million dollars a day, or about 1 billion dollars over the next few years, at both ports to finance 80 percent of the cost to replace many of the 17,000 trucks that are a leading source of air pollution in the region, said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Richard D. Steinke. "It is imperative that we begin collecting the fees so we can move forward and achieve our clean-air goals," Steinke said. "The truck financing fee is a critical, long-planned part of our Clean Trucks Program to protect public health and improve air quality and security. With the current credit crisis, it will be impossible for most truckers to replace all their trucks without our financial assistance program." Cargo owners are responsible for paying the fee before a container enters or leaves the port complex. Starting Oct. 1, 2008, the ports banned all pre-1989 trucks due to the amount of pollution they generate. On Jan. 1, 2010, the ports will ban all pre-1994 trucks, as well as model year 1994 to 2003 trucks that have not been retrofitted to meet the port's emissions standards. "It's imperative that we start the program and continue the progress we have made to date in terms of banning pre-1989 trucks and accelerating the deployment of more than 2,200 2007-compliant trucks through our '2007 Compliant Incentive Program'," said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. Collection of the clean-trucks fee was scheduled to begin in November but was delayed due to a review by the Federal Maritime Commission, the government agency that oversees the ports.

Cargo rail lines under study in Dubai to ease traffic congestion

According to a senior UAE officials, trucks will be banned from Emirates Road in Dubai from 6 AM and 10 PM while cargo rail lines are under study to reduce movement of heavy trucks a leading cause of traffic congestion, The new initiatives are part of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority's plans for massive overhauling of Dubai's traffic movement in a bid to ease congestion and reduce fatal road accidents. RTA has joined hands with the Dubai Police Traffic Department to ensure safe and smooth vehicular movement in the city. It is conducting a comprehensive study in collaboration with the Dubai Police to find fresh solutions to burgeoning traffic congestion in the Emirate. Mr Mattar Al Tayer chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA said that "We are developing a model plan for the movement of heavy vehicles and for building rail lines to transport cargo from the dry ports and cargo assembly points to the distribution centres.” However, he did not reveal any details about the rail lines for the cargo shipment. Al Tayer held a meeting with Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police's deputy commander general, to discuss the issue of heavy vehicles and speed limits on Dubai roads. The RTA's studies also included assessment of the current trucks movement, prohibited timings and routes and the need for dedicated heavy vehicle roads, and the organizational and structural aspects related to management of trucks and cargo movement in Dubai. Mr. Al Tayer said that "Our analytical results of our studies have shown that traffic particularly on Emirates Road and generally in the city will improve considerably if the trucks are prohibited from using Emirates Roads from 6am to 10pm. Decision in this regard will be taken soon after the completion of roads linking Emirates Road and the Dubai Bypass Road.” He said the new ban timing will cut trucks' movement by 9,000 trucks per day or 700 trucks per hour during peak hours. It will also divert more traffic to both Al Khail Road and the Bypass Road.

Port of Seattle may see more cargo from alliance

Zim Integrated Shipping Services has formally dropped plans to call at the Port of Seattle with its own ships, and will instead integrate with an existing consortium called the Grand Alliance. Landing the Israeli carrier Zim had been a victory for the Port of Seattle, but now Zim is downsizing like many other ocean carriers, trying to adapt to the slowing global economy. Zim had been scheduled to start service in November of 2008, but had instead been moving cargo on others’ ships. The good news is that the addition of Zim to the Grand Alliance, which also includes ocean carriers Hapag-Lloyd, NYK and OOCL, will boost the size of ships in the two strings of ships that are calling at the port. As part of the deal, the alliance is upping the capacity of the ships in Northwest Express service from the equivalent of 5,500 20-foot containers each to 7,500 containers each. This is even though Zim itself will be contributing fewer ships than if it had operated its own string of ships. “We’re all trying to improve the utilization and by sharing a ship with another partners, it means you have less to fill,” said NYK spokesman Douglas Cole, based in New Jersey. NYK is based in Tokyo. “There’s the potential for a lot more cargo coming through Seattle,” said Port of Seattle spokesman Charla Skaggs. Last year, Seattle’s container count dropped 13.6 percent, the worst among an array of dismal performances by all U.S. West Coast ports. NYK is of particular interest in the current collaboration among carriers, because the company created a stir in 2007 when it announced plans to move from Seattle to a large terminal of its own at the Port of Tacoma. But NYK and the port are now talking of downsizing that project, although Tacoma port spokeswoman Tara Mattina said it’s still on for 2012.On its own website, NYK is now predicting that revenues will be down 9.1 percent for its 2009 fiscal year ending March 31, and that net income

ICT expected to improve efficiency of freight logistics

Experts gathered at a conference this week showcased existing freight information systems, exploring how individual initiatives currently in place can help the development of an integrated European ICT system across transport modes. Representatives of logistics, transport and IT companies, together with researchers and public bodies, showcased examples of successful e-freight applications at a conference on 17 February. "When we are shipping freight, different modes of transport need to communicate with each other," said Markus Brozio of German company Soptim. The firm is currently involved in a project called Retrack, which seeks to solve communication problems regarding an east-west rail freight line from Belgium to Romania. "But there are many technical barriers and limitations, as well as language problems," he added, referring to different communication, security and voltage systems, for example in rail freight. However, building new infrastructure will not solve the problems, argued the European Commission's director for the Trans-European Transport Network (T-TEN) and co-modality, Jonathan Scheele. While politicians like building new things and "cutting ribbons" on new tunnel and terminal openings, the focus should rather be on "using existing things more efficiently by getting the logistics chain right," he added. Scheele also deplored that while there is a huge amount of information available on freight logistics, it is not interoperable, usable or extractable, making exchange of information between systems impossible. The biggest obstacle for e-freight in the current situation is that if an operator has developed its own system, then "keeping it is actually good for its competitiveness," Scheele noted, adding that existing systems' capital and intellectual property rights should not be undermined. The Commission insists that solutions to move towards an integrated system need to be practical and clear, and must bring added value for the users that already have their systems. In this context, all stakeholders need "to trust one another, even their competitors," and must be ready to work together towards more efficient use of the system, concluded Scheele. Frederic Leger of the International Air Transport Association, showcasing the airline industry's move towards "paper-free cargo," said the challenges faced by the sector include "partial eFreight shipments," as some countries still require paper documents alongside their e-customs platforms, or additional information on paper. Indeed, some countries have simply failed to ratify international conventions on e-freight or are not implementing electronic platforms in conformity with international standards, he added. E-freight - the development of an integrated ICT application that is capable of tracking movement of goods in and out of the EU across all modes of transport - forms part of the Commission's 2007 action plan on freight logistics (EurActiv 19/10/07). The EU executive believes that accelerated progress in ICT is "revolutionising the way in which freight transport logistics can be organised" and will automate the exchange of content-related data for regulatory or commercial purposes.

QMASTOR APS software for iron ore export ports

QMASTOR has secured a major contract with an unnamed iron ore producer to provide its Horizon Advanced Planning and Scheduling software to two ports. According to the company, most of the revenue from the contract will be received in the 2008-2009 financial year. The software will be licensed and installed at two iron ore export ports in Western Australia. The software developer said that its application will provide a platform for optimized planning and execution of shipping logistics, improving product throughput and minimizing demurrage. The solution is part of a wider Marine and Port Management project being undertaken by the iron ore producer.

Drop in cargo tonnage passing through Belfast port

The economic downturn was blamed for a 5.5% fall in the amount of cargo handled by the Port of Belfast last year. But Belfast Harbour Commissioners said that overall, returns for the port reflected “a strong performance”. Cargo passing through the port fell to 16.5 million tonnes; something the Commissioners said was in line with rival Irish ports. The data showed that traffic associated with the construction industry was badly affected, with timber imports slumping by 38% and steel by 21%. In addition, oil imports fell by 5%, caused primarily by the surge in energy prices last summer, which dampened demand. Container traffic was also down by 5%, with 153,000 boxes carried in 2008 compared with 161,000 in 2007 — but not all trade sectors fell. Roy Adair, the Port’s CEO, said that passenger numbers had remained static at 1.2 million, while scrap metal was up by 8.6% and fertiliser imports showed a 5% increase. The stone trade also saw a 4% rise — driven by additional road maintenance projects in Great Britain. Mr. Adair said: “For the last four years the port has reported record levels of trade carried, so given the current economic climate it was anticipated that there would be some slippage during 2008. “Despite that fall, however, the figures represent a robust performance by the port in what was a turbulent year for the global economy. This is a well diversified business operating across a range of trades. It’s also a business which is guided by a long-term development framework which aims to deliver significant new port capacity over the next 20 to 30-years. “There’s no doubt that this is going to be a painful part of the business cycle, but the economy will recover and we are confident that when it does, it will grow strongly.”

Gladstone port confident of coal export turnaround

ABC news reported that the Gladstone Ports Corporation in central Queensland, Australia which saw slowdown in demand for coal is now showing signs turn around. Mr. Leo Zussino CEO of Gladstone Ports Corporation said that one of the impacts of the global financial crisis has been a slowdown in the demand for coking coal used in steel production. But after a recent meeting with Chinese Government officials that may be about to change. He said that "Chinese officials were saying the Chinese were going to put a lot of their USD 850 billion stimulus package into developing 60 to 80 new provincial cities in China. That means that they would be producing a lot more steel, concrete building materials etc and he certainly believed that in the H2 of this year you would start to see good signs of that.

Honda setting up logistics centre in Poland

The Japanese concern Honda intends to build a logistics-warehouse complex in the village of Pniewy in Wielkopolskie voivodship in Poland. The investment will set the company back €10.7m in capital expenditure. The complex will stand on a 56,000 m² plot and consist of a logistics centre and replacement parts warehouse, providing total approximate floor space of 20,000 m². The concern will store and supply replacement parts for Poland, the Baltic states and eastern Germany.

Washington port exports jump 60 percent

Food and agriculture exports from Washington ports amounted to about $14.8 billion last year, a 60 percent increase from 2007, according to U.S. Department of Commerce. Several factors contributed to the increase, including strong yields, high prices for commodities, the relatively low value of the dollar, adverse weather in other parts of the world that decreased global supply, and trade missions that opened up new markets, said the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Washington is the third-largest food and agriculture product exporter of the 50 states and about one-third of products grown in the state are shipped overseas. The value of certain products exported from Washington included wheat, worth $2.21 billion, apples, cherries and other fruit at $863 million, processed foods at $686 million, dairy products at $414 million, hay at $309 million and vegetables at $266 million. The leading destinations for the exports include Japan, Canada, the Philippines, Indonesia, Korea and Mexico.

FREIGHT RATES

(Prices listed below are only Indicative Ocean freight rates for a Container and negotiable with respective Shipping/Liner Agents).

Indicative Ocean Freights to various Sea Ports
REGION/COUNTRY OCEAN	PORTS	FREIGHT COST (US$)	NORMAL TRANSIT PERIOD	OCEANS SHIPPING LINE
I. Europe
U.K.	Felixstowe	1500	27-28 Days	MSC, APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
U.K.	Southampton	1800	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
Netherlands	Rotterdam/Antwerp	1500	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
Germany	Hamburg	1500	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
Italy	Genoa	1500	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
France	Lettavre	1500	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Marseilles	1500	27-28 Days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
II North America
USA	New York	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	New Jersey	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Charleston	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Houston	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Miami	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	New Orleans	2500	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Mobile	2200	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Boston	2200	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Baltimore	2200	40-45 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
Canada	Toronto	2500	33-35 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
	Montreal	2200	33-35 days	APL, Transworld, Maersk, ContShip
III. Latin America
Panama	Panama	2800	40 Days	E. Maersk OOL / APL
Paraguay	Parangua	2750	35 Days	Samrat
Chile	Valpariso	2750	35 days	Samrat
Argentina	Buenos Aires	2200	35 days	Samrat
	Santos	2200	35 days	Samrat
Brazil	Riogrande	2200	35 days	Samrat
Uruguay	Montevideo	2200	35 days	Samrat
Colombia	Catagina	2700	35 days	Samrat
IV .Middle East
UAE	Dubai	600	12-14 days	UASC
Oman	Muscat	850	12-14 days	UASC
Israel	Haifa	1300	30 days	UASC
V. Mediterranean Ports
Turkey	Istanbul	1400	30 days	Lloyd Triestino/CMA
Italy	Genova	1500	18-22 days	Lloyd Triestino /Greenways
	Naples	1500	18-22 days	Samrat/ Greenways
	Valencia	1500	18-22 days	Samrat/ Greenways
VI. Far East
China	Hong Kong	550	30 days	Hyundai
	Shanghai	850	22 days	Hyundai
Japan	Tokyo	1150	22 days	Mitsui
Philippines	Manila	900	22 days	Mitsui
Singapore	Singapore	400	22 days	DBC
Spain	Barcelona	1050	18-22 days	Samrat
VII. Australia
	Adelaide	2000	25-28 days	OCL /Wockhard
	Sydney	2000	25-28 days	OCL /Wockhard
	Brisbane	2000	25-28 days	OCL /Wockhard

Indicative Truck Freight Rates Between Metros and Major Cities
Note (Rupees per ton for nine tones),
	Kolkata	Chennai	New, Delhi	Mumbai
Kolkata	XX	2,978	3,000	3,333
Chennai	2,333	XX	4,000	2,388
New Delhi	2,000	3,555	XX	2,333
Mumbai	2,944	2,055	2,111	XX
Ahmedabad	2,889	2,555	1,222	778
Bangalore	2,444	772	3,667	1,833
Bhopal	2,222	2,222	1,333	1,389
Bhubaneshwar	1,056	2,220	3,667	2,611
Chandigarh	2,410	3,945	611	2,833
Coimbatore	3,222	944	4,444	2,444
Cuttack	1,056	2,222	3,667	2,611
Guwahati	2,222	5,888	5,111	5,666
Hyderabad	1,778	1,111	3,167	1,444
Jaipur	2,278	3,222	667	1,722
Jalandhar	2,550	4,000	889	2,889
Jamshedpur	700	2,978	2,667	3,222
Kanpur	1,667	3,450	1,078	2,555
Kochi	3,850	1,450	5,333	2,444
Lucknow	1,965	3,550	1,222	2,555
Madurai	3,667	975	4,778	2,666
Nagpur	1,833	1,611	2,222	1,222
Patna	1,333	4,111	2,667	3,222
Pune	2,944	1,722	2,333	555
Siliguri	1,167	4,450	3,444	4,000
Visakhapatnam	1,444	1,444	4,000	2,333
Vijayawada	1,611	665	3,444	1,888
Source www.infobanc.com

Air Freight Rates: Domestic
Domestic (Non-documents all rates in Rupees)
10 Kgs
TO/FROM	Chennai,	Delhi	Mumbai	Kolkata	Hyderabad	Bangalore
Chennai	-	812	519	732	226	226
Delhi ,	826	-	586	626	639	799
Mumbai	506	533	-	706	373	413
Kolkata,	706	546	719	-	732	839
Hyderabad	320	639	373	919	-	453
Bangalore	226	812	439	852	453	-
50,kgs
Location	Chennai	Delhi	Mumbai	Kolkata	Hyderabad ,	Bangalore
Chennai	-	3,076	1,904	3,662	1,132	1,132
Delhi	3,149	-	2,197	2,050	2,197	3,149
Mumbai	1,861	1,831	-	3,528	1,465	1,538
Kolkata	2,710	2,048	2,490	-	2,780	2,929
Hyderabad	1,331	2,197	1,465	2,996	-	1,797
Bangalore	732	2,710	1,465	4,261	1,797	-
100,Kgs
Location	Chennai	Delhi	Mumbai	Kolkata,	Hyderabad	Bangalore
Chennai,	-	6,005	3,515	7,323	2,263	2,263
Delhi	5,932	-	3,954	3,808	3,954	5,932
Mumbai,	3,502	3,542	-	5,459	2,929	2,929
Kolkata	5,139	3,821	4,647	-	3,954	5,566
Hyderabad	1,598	3,954	2,929	4,926	-	3,595
Bangalore	1,465	4,833	2,783	8,521	3,595	-
500 Kgs
Location	Chennai	Delhi	Mumbai	Kolkata	Hyderabad	Bangalore
Chennai	-	24,898	15,378	36,615	11,317	11,317
Delhi	19,772	-	15,012	15,978	16,843	23,434
Mumbai	12,449	15,179	-	27,295	13,182	10,985
Kolkata	22,036	16,377	19,905	-	19,772	24,166
Hyderabad	6,657	16,843	13,182	24,632	-	15,978
Bangalore	7,323	21,237	10,985	42,607	15,978	-
1000, kgs
Location	Chennai	Delhi	Mumbai	Kolkata	Hyderabad	Bangalore
Chennai	-	49,797	30,757	73,231	22,635	22,635
Delhi	38,080	-	26,363	31,955	33,686	38,080
Mumbai	24,898	30,357	-	54,590	23,434	21,969
Kolkata	39,545	28,094	39,811	-	39,545	43,938
Hyderabad	13,315	33,686	23,434	49,264	-	31,955
Bangalore	14,646	39,545	21,969	85,214	31,955	-
Source: Bluedart


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